After reflecting on the question of God and what “putting one’s faith in that One” truly means, we continue here our series on Ostad Elahi’s poem “The Quintessence of Religions” with a second excerpt from Leili Anvar’s commentary of this text, which was originally published (in French) in the proceedings of the symposium “Quelle sagesse pour notre temps ?”. This second excerpt examines the question of “evil”.

A starting point for reflection is suggested at the end of this article. As usual, please do not hesitate to share your thoughts, examples and experiences in the comments section.

“[…] Second, consider every being in every time as good
For at its origin none is evil or malevolent
It’s not the agent but the act from which evil is conceived
Strive, in short, to combat such deeds […]”

The first practical point Ostad Elahi raises in this “Quintessence of religions”, is the question of evil. The ethical injunction here is based on a particular metaphysical claim, namely that evil does not exist in itself[1]. The initial premise of a Being that has created all creatures through the outpouring of His grace[2], a Being that is all-powerful and benevolent, that is absolute Goodness, and that creates no evil, excludes the idea that a creature could be evil in virtue of its “essence”. In other words: evil is “accidental”. Evil is brought about by men when they use their will to achieve goals that are contrary to Goodness and Truth. While the freedom and responsibility of humans reveal themselves through the possibility of making such choices, wisdom consists nonetheless, when observing evil, in dissociating the act from the person. The point is to avoid judging others through an essentialist interpretation of their actions, for it is impossible for anyone to know what lies in the hearts of other people:

“I recommend that you refrain from ever judging anyone [judging a person’s essential nature], for you will not be able to answer at the time of your Accounting. Only God knows the real truth of every being and can judge them. We don’t even know ourselves; how, then, can we judge others?” (Words of Truth, 441, draft of the forthcoming English translation)

What matters to Ostad Elahi are the practical consequences of a philosophical reflection on evil. Holding one’s judgment requires having worked on one’s perspectives and thoughts. We find here an echo of Zoroaster’s famous maxim regarding “seeing the good” and “thinking what is good”, or as it may be reformulated, “seeing things correctly”, “thinking correctly”, that is, in a way that does justice to things. For sages are certainly not naïve or unaware of reality. They see and consider things as they are but without being judgmental, with clarity but without bitterness. Wisdom therefore begins with a shift in our perception of others and of ourselves. Shifting perspectives actually enables us to change our substance, to clarify our self, to purify it from its darkness, from the smoke that covers it, from the opaque veil of ignorance that obscures a clear vision of reality:

“Each person perceives the external world according to his own inner state, for the outside world is but a reflection of what transpires within us. The effects of seeing, thinking, and speaking good are reflected back onto us, illuminating our hearts and causing us to see our surroundings in a pleasant rather than gloomy light.” (WoT, 422, draft of the forthcoming English translation)

Observing manifestations of evil should neither lead to nihilism or despair, nor be a justification for judging others. Instead, it should serve to turn our gaze within, and to engage in an active fight: “Strive, in short, to combat bad deeds.” This is not a call to combat those who commit such deeds, placing ourselves as moral judges—rather, it is an invocation to combat the effects of evil in this world with goodness, and also (and more importantly!) to combat the impulses of evil that reside in ourselves. Bahram Elahi comments on this line as follows: “Striving to combat refers here to the duty to combat the evil that resides in each of us and that stems from the imperious self. Everyone has the duty to fight against their own imperious self, to reduce, at their level, the flux of evil.” (WoT, 472, footnote [translated from the French])

In the end, any wisdom endeavour should begin by answering these two fundamental questions: “What is evil? What is good?”, or in other words, “What should I avoid doing and what should I do? And why?” Any decision based on these questions then becomes ethical, and for any of our actions, we should be able to tell whether accomplishing them was acting in a good way or in a bad (or evil) way. The French philosopher Paul Ricœur puts it as follows:

“For action, evil is above all what ought not to be, but what must be fought against. In this sense, action inverts the orientation of looking at the world. Myth tends to pull speculative thought back toward the origin of things. From whence comes evil? it asks. The response, not the solution, of action is to act against evil. Our vision is thus turned toward the future, by the idea of a task to be accomplished, which corresponds to that of an origin to be discovered.” (Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination, Fortress Press, 1995, p. 259)

The first step in any ethical approach, which is also the first step in wisdom and the basis for the development of what Ostad Elahi calls “sound reason”, is to avoid evil as much as possible: to fight against one’s impulses, change one’s gaze, resist the temptation to do evil. Or, as the text continues: “to avoid” that which is contrary to what is good. This is the first step leading to Goodness. In order to “say what is good, do what is good and think what is good”, it is first necessary to learn to avoid speaking evil, doing evil and thinking evil. “Not doing” is indeed at the foundation of ethics, as can be observed in the very composition of the ten commandments (Old Testament, Exodus 20, chapter entitled “The Decalogue”, and also in Deuteronomy 5) that set the founding law of the three major monotheisms. In fact, out of the ten divine “commandments” or “sayings”, eight are negative injunctions: “Thou shalt not kill”, “Thou shalt not steal”, etc. It would thus appear that the first movement, that makes up the foundation of moral law, consists in withholding, in fighting against the impulse to do evil that is in the hearts of all humans. Ostad Elahi aligns himself with this approach when he describes the battle against the imperious self (as the pillar of spiritual perfection)[3]:

“Battling the imperious self means to renounce its impulses and desires through the force of one’s faith and willpower.” (WoT, 95, draft of the forthcoming English translation)

“Renouncing” means “saying no” to injunctions that are contrary to those divine principles which form the basis of human values and are recognized as such not only within religious and spiritual traditions but also in secular law. The imperious self is this entity that exists within each of us and pushes us to transgress ethical principles:

“May God protect us from the imperious self, which seeks to deceive us however it can, whether by concocting various ruses and justifications, fabricating endless arguments, or assuming countless guises.” (WoT, 93, draft of the forthcoming English translation)

For all these reasons, it is clear that while it is theoretically almost impossible to define evil, it is indispensable to be able to recognize it in practice. The goal of the ethical principles that form the practical core of all religions is none other than to propose a chart of good and evil. Because in order to really practice what is good, it is essential to know of the possibility of evil and to have experienced the temptation of evil. For Ostad Elahi, evil as an ethical issue only has meaning within the general framework of the rights that are inherent to all creatures. These rights imply in turn a number of duties. Ostad Elahi considers that no right is ever lost and that the immortal soul shall be held accountable for all its transgressions, by virtue of the precise mathematical count inscribed in its very substance. Speaking in terms of rights signifies that avoiding evil is above all avoiding transgressing the rights of others, or in other words “not do unto others what you would not wish done unto you”, which is the matching piece of the universal Golden Rule: “do unto others what you would wish done unto you.” Ostad Elahi returns ever so often in his teachings to this universal maxim as a foundation of ethics and wisdom, from whence stems the very notion of the good.

[1] ^On this subject, see WoT, 136. This idea that evil does not exist in itself can also be found in Plotinus, when he criticizes gnostic dualism, opposing a principle of evil to a principle of good. See in particular Treaty No. 9 (VI, 9): “The Good or the One”, in The Essential Plotinus, trans. Elmer O’Brien (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1964).

[2] ^On this subject, see Knowing the Spirit, State University of New York Press, 2007, p. 53, and WoT, 18: “Existence is an immense act of grace bestowed upon beings by the Necessary Being. Just as the sun’s rays illuminate its surroundings, so too does His grace, with the difference that divine grace is willed and flows from His munificence.”

[3] ^“The imperious self can thus be considered as a rebellious agent of intelligent destructive desires of the terrestrial soul or id.” Bahram Elahi, The Path of Perfection, Paraview, 2005, p. 43.

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